A plan to keep us dry

Saturday

Feb 9, 2013 at 7:31 PM

One thing that becomes clear when reading Terrebonne Parish’s proposed master plan is that we live in a swamp.

Keith MagillExecutive Editor

One thing that becomes clear when reading Terrebonne Parish’s proposed master plan is that we live in a swamp.Nearly 90 percent of the parish’s land is considered “environmentally sensitive,” mostly wetlands, the plan says. It would cost so much to build homes or businesses there — if it’s physically or legally possible at all — that it is considered off limits to almost any kind of development. About 5.6 percent of the parish’s land — 66,000 acres — is vacant or used for agriculture. The master plan makes some educated guesses based on population growth estimates, historic development trends and other factors, that Terrebonne will run out of land to develop in anywhere from 141 to 437 years.Whether that’s a lot or a little depends on your world view. You won’t be around when we run out of room, but your great-grandchildren might. And if it takes 437 years to use up all of that land, you’re talking about, as the master plan notes, 17 generations.It also depends on whether nature cooperates and a hurricane doesn’t wipe out the land that’s left before anyone gets a chance to develop it.As it stands, we’re depending on a scaled-down levee system that everyone involved says cannot be guaranteed to protect us against a direct hit. And the $12.9 billion the Army Corps says it will cost to construct a full-fledged Morganza hurricane-protection system will likely never materialize.The plan acknowledges that major levee systems, as well as major river-sediment diversions that might restore the wetlands that once buffered inland communities from Gulf storms, are needed immediately. But it notes that even if work began now, it could take 40-50 years to complete.The plan calls for a major shift in emphasis from levees and drainage systems — so called “structural” approaches — to smart planning, elevating and flood-proofing buildings and making the most flood-prone areas off limits to development, so-called “non-structural” efforts.“For the first time, the parish wants to make sure that sustainability and resiliency are introduced into the comprehensive planning process so that an integrated approach to hazard loss reduction considers all possible aspects of the issue,” the plan says.The parish has already used FEMA money to help hundreds of residents who have flooded repeatedly either build higher or move to higher ground elsewhere.But the council and administration have lacked the courage to outlaw development even in the most flood-prone areas. Some have legitimate concerns that doing so would stymie business and residential growth. Others are catering to the whims of developers who make money building things or to residents who complain they don’t want government telling them what they can and can’t do with their property.In the end, that may not matter. If FEMA ever stops its foot-dragging and approves Terrebonne’s long-debated flood maps, the parish will be forced to require new homes and businesses in many areas to elevate. If it doesn’t, FEMA will end the parish’s participation in the National Flood Insurance Program, the only option residents have to insure their homes and businesses against flooding.The master plan calls for lots of other “safer,” “stronger” and “smarter” ways to prevent flood damage, some old and some new. Overall, I like the apparent shift from one almost exclusively focused on building levees, drainage systems and coastal-restoration projects, some of which are so expensive and time-consuming they may never be completed. It’s refreshing to see a plan that also encourages more-affordable, sensible measures and makes numerous references to “reducing risk,” “sustainability” and “resiliency.”Even if Vision 2030 wins approval — it heads to the council for a vote Feb. 27 — it is not binding. It’s supposed to offer guidance to manage growth and enhance our quality of life over the next two decades.If they do it right, the council and administration will use the plan to take actions that give a few generations of residents a decent chance of living here without the continual cycle of flooding and rebuilding that too many have had to endure.If they do it wrong, officials will let the plan collect dust for years until it’s time to revise or will let it crumble under pressure from one interest or another.Which do you think will happen?

Courier and Daily Comet Executive Editor Keith Magill can be reached at 857-2201 or keith.magill@houmatoday.com.